Oranjewerf Ship Repair becomes Damen Shiprepair Oranjewerf
On 1 July 2015, Oranjewerf Ship Repair, which joined Damen Shipyards Group in 1989, will officially change its name to Damen Shiprepair Oranjewerf. This name change will be the final step of integration for the yard into Damen Shiprepair & Conversion, part of the Damen Shipyards Group. This will enable Damen Shiprepair Oranjewerf to continue to deliver a high level of service to its customers.
Oranjewerf was founded in 1949 and boasts an extensive history and acquired expertise within ship repair. The collaboration between Damen Shipyards Group and Oranjewerf also has a long history, which began 26 years ago.
Damen Shiprepair & Conversion offers a network of 15 repair and conversion yards worldwide. The past 5 years has seen the names of shipyards change to integrate them into the division and Oranjewerf’s new name will be official effective as of 1 July 2015.
“We want to stand out to our customers as one group, one name, one quality,” says Damen Shiprepair Oranjewerf’s Managing Director Ronald Otten. “This name change means we will be known as one repair group, especially to our foreign customers. If we are unable to dock or repair a boat at our facility then we have other resources within our network available to us, this means we can better serve our customers.”
Shipyard Synergy
Earlier this year Shipdock Amsterdam and Shipdock Harlingen changed their names to Damen Shiprepair Amsterdam and Damen Shiprepair Harlingen respectively.
This has strengthened Damen’s already extensive network and created a united front. “We are already collaborating with other Damen repair yards,” says Mr.Otten. “We sit together every quarter and especially work closely with Damen Shiprepair Amsterdam. This collaboration is only getting better.”
This name change also has an affect on procedures inside the yard. “There is an impact on Health and Safety as this is a priority,” says Mr. Otten. “We are currently in the process of becoming ISO 9001 certified, which means we will also uphold the high level of safety that is present at all Damen shipyards.”
Looking towards the future
According to Mr Otten not all of the yard’s customers were aware of their long history with Damen. However, as other shipyards began incorporating the Damen name, customers as well as employees anticipated it was only a matter of time before Oranjewerf would follow.
From an employee perspective there are no changes to take into account. Mr Otten has already informed all employees and there was a positive response to this development. “Many of our employees have been working for us for over 10-20 years and welcome this change.”
“We are one of the smaller yards in the group and have been very busy, especially over the past 3 years,” says Mr Otten. “Our customers are very happy with us and this name change will allow us to continue to provide excellent service and quality.”